1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to data communications, and more particularly, to systems for demand-based regulation of dynamically implemented network firewall exceptions in providing data communications services on board aircraft and other vehicles.
2. Related Art
Air travel typically involves journeys over extended distances that at the very least take several hours to complete. Some of the longer non-stop international flights have scheduled durations of over sixteen hours with travel distances extending beyond ten thousand miles. Passengers on board the aircraft are confined within an enclosed space of a designated seat for the entire duration of the flight, with only a few limited opportunities to leave the seat for use of the lavatory and so forth. Thus, even on the shortest trips an airline passenger has some idle time, which the passenger may occupy with work, leisure, and/or rest.
Airlines thus provide on-board in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems that offer a wide variety of multimedia content for passenger enjoyment. Recently released movies are a popular viewing choice, as are television shows such as news programs, situation and stand-up comedies, documentaries, and so on. Useful information about the destination such as airport disembarking procedures, immigration and custom procedures and the like are also frequently presented. Audio-only programming is also available, typically comprised of playlists of songs fitting into a common theme or genre. Likewise, video-only content such as flight progress mapping, flight status displays, and so forth are available. Many in-flight entertainment systems also include video games that may be played by the passenger.
Although cabin-installed IFE systems remain a popular choice for passengers, an increasing number are choosing to bring on board their own portable electronic devices (PEDs) such as smart phones, media players, electronic readers, tablets, laptop computers, and so forth. These devices are typically loaded with music, video, games, and other multimedia content of the user's choosing, though during the flight, such devices mostly fill the same role as IFE systems—to keep the user entertained and otherwise occupied during the flight.
However, there is also a demand on the part of some passengers to put PEDs to more productive uses, which typically require access to the Internet. For instance, PEDs may have installed thereon various e-mail and instant messaging client applications, stock trading applications, banking applications, file sharing applications, cloud-based notetaking applications, and countless other productivity software. Furthermore, there may be dedicated applications that have functions that are particularly useful during travel, such as trip and connecting flight/departure gate tracking. Also popular are applications that are not necessarily productivity-related but still require Internet access, such as sports score updates, text-based news, and so forth.
Internet access on flights is typically provided via an onboard WiFi network, to which the PEDs connect. In this regard, there may be several WiFi access points located throughout the cabin, each of which are connected to a satellite uplink module that is in communication with a satellite. The satellite, in turn, may be in communication with a ground station that is connected to the Internet.
As the bandwidth of the satellite downlink is limited as it is costly to the airline, Internet connectivity may be provided only to paying customers. One model is a subscription-based model, where a flat fee is paid for monthly access periods. Such plans may be more suitable for frequent travelers. Alternatively, short term access on a per-flight, daily, hourly, or other time limited basis in exchange for the payment of a lower fee is possible, although typically at a higher monetary rate per unit of time.
In some IFE implementations, a PED can connect to the WiFi network without accessing the satellite-based Internet link. One application is the retrieval of multimedia content and related data (such as digital rights management keys needed for playback) from an onboard content server for consumption during flight via the PED. Along these lines, it may be necessary for the PED to access a login webpage on the local network, through which payment for the Internet access can be submitted, along with inputting an acceptance of the airline's and the datalink provider's terms and conditions, and so on, prior to being permitted access to the Internet.
Accordingly, the WiFi access point may cooperate with a firewall that selectively restricts and permits access to the Internet from specific PEDs in accordance with the payment of the access/subscription fee. For instance, the firewall may begin a countdown timer for a particular PED to be allowed access to the Internet, e.g., data transmissions to and from the PED are permitted, for a predetermined duration, and upon expiration of the timer, preventing further data transmissions to and from the PED.
Presently, all of the aforementioned PED applications are developed around the assumption that Internet access is, or will be available, with the choice of how that access is to be obtained being left to the user and underlying service providers. When Internet access is unavailable, any functionality that involves updating or refreshing data ceases, with only the pre-stored data being presented. In order to maximize the value of purchasing Internet access for such a limited duration, customers would need to consider the other possible applications on the PED that would need such access, and balance the benefits of obtaining data or information therefrom with the access costs. Oftentimes this cost-benefit calculus results in the passenger simply not using these applications during flight, and relegating the PEDs to basic consumption devices for pre-stored content. Even at the lowest price points, passengers typically do not pay for connectivity unless reimbursement from employers and the like is possible.
From the perspective of the application providers, there may be a multitude of returns with every instance of application use, particularly with captive audiences such as passengers on an airline flight. For example, in a shopping application, each purchase may net the application provider a percentage of the sale price. A more indirect example is a connecting gate checking application, where being able to access status information on demand engenders confidence and loyalty to an extent where future, paid upgrades to the application are more likely to be purchased, and other such intangible returns.
The use of whitelists installed on the onboard firewall, with application providers paying a fee to be included thereon is one possibility for restricting Internet access to certain sites. However, there are several limitations with such an approach. Typical Internet services refer to secondary domains or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to provide content and/or services, and in turn, those secondary URLs may refer to further tertiary URLs. Maintaining such a whitelist is challenging, as the relationships between the primary URL and the secondary URLs, and the relationships between the secondary URLs and tertiary URLs constantly evolve, and must be recorded in the whitelist. From the discovery of broken URLs, suggesting updates, and applying those updates to the whitelists is a cumbersome multi-step process. Generally, whitelist implementations have significant runaway cost risk, particularly over many flights and many use cases. Billing application service providers on a per-application basis may not be possible, because tracking traffic to secondary URLs shared by several applications may not be possible.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for extending the use of Internet-based applications on PEDs on flights that do not depend on the passenger or customer purchasing Internet access. There is also a need in the art for improved application-specific control over onboard firewalls instead of broad and imprecise access definitions such as whitelists that are difficult to maintain. Additionally, there is a need in the art for Internet access providers to exercise final authority over the application-specific control of onboard firewalls so as to not degrade connectivity for paying customers while also increasing allocation to encourage higher usage during off-peak times.